Sky Pieces
by ThelMe
Summary: Sasuke and Hinata are freelance photographers on a cross-country roadtrip. Hinata thinks its a spur of the moment trip, not knowing that Sasuke has plans for them. (One-shot)


**Sky Pieces**

She heard him chuckle and turned her head to the side, a small smile on her face. "What is it? I wanna laugh too."

Sasuke just shook his head and kept scrolling through his phone, "Eyes on the road, Hyuga. I'll show you later, promise." He bit back a laugh as she pouted and turned up the radio. He allowed himself a ghost of a smile at her childishness.

It quickly turned into a grimace as she purposefully screeched her way through this week's top ten something.

* * *

Hinata yawned into the crook of her elbow before shutting the car door. She took in the sight of the outlet mall they were parked in and tried to figure out where they were. She thought she remembered seeing a "Welcome to the Silver State" sign on the side of the road a few miles back, but Heavens knows state nicknames (and basic geography if she were being completely honest) weren't really her forte.

"Excuse me, miss, are you lost?"

She turned around to see curious teal eyes staring at her both knowingly and patiently. "Oh! Uhm, not really, I don't suppose..."

"You don't suppose?" the man seemed amused.

Hinata offered him a sheepish laugh and explained. "We're not really going anywhere in particular so technically, we're not lost. Just road-tripping around."

"We?"

"Oh! My... friend...and I. I'm a freelance photographe — he is, too — you see, and he was going on a road trip, clearly this one, and invited me along and I got this idea for a photo series," she took a breath in between her gushing, "of long exposure shots of the sky at different times of day or night in whatever beautiful places we could find along this trip. And I just _had_ to go, y'know? I've always wanted a little piece of the sky for myself and the closest I can get to owning it is by taking these pictures and I just —"

"You must really love your job," he smoothly interjected, coughing a little to hide a laugh. He put up a hand before she could apologize, "I really don't mind, your fervor is nice."

She wrung a hand through her hair, "You don't have to feel obligated to say that, really. I just get a little excited sometimes, I'm very sorry."

"No, no," he laughed outright, "really, I mean it. It reminds me of my boyfriend, he's excited all the time. Such energy is endearing. He should be around here somewhere...ah, there he is."

Hinata looked towards the doors of a Best Buy where Sasuke was exiting. She frowned for a moment before she noticed the man walking animatedly alongside him in a garish green jumpsuit. She blinked a few times as the green man came to a stop in front of her.

"Hinata," Sasuke started in with a sigh, "this is Lee. You've already met Gaara," he nodded towards the teal-eyed man.

"You know each other?" she looked between the three of them.

Lee jumped right in, "Ah, we do! It was a blessed summer at camp which began this youthful friendship many, many years ago! It has been a while since we were lucky enough to all be together but it seems the power of our youthful ways have brought us together again! And to finally meet _you_ , Hinata is a great honor, especially since seeing —" Gaara held the back of his hand lightly against Lee's mouth when he saw a glower darken Sasuke's face.

"What Lee means is," Gaara interjected, "is that we heard a lot about you from this grump here," he jutted his chin towards Sasuke.

"Yes, yes, all very lovely," Sasuke said. "But we should get going, there's a spot I wanna go to before the sun comes up tomorrow and time ain't on our side."

Hinata looked apologetically at Sasuke's friends as he got into the car. "Sorry, guess we're outta here. You know what he's like," she giggled a bit as Sasuke sighed dramatically. "It was really nice meeting you two, I would've liked to have spent some more time with you." She looked pointedly at Sasuke.

Gaara hummed, "He can be such a petulant man-child, we know." Sasuke started the car. "We live here, well a few cities over in Summerlin, please come and visit if you ever find yourself in Nevada again. I'm sure Sasuke can give you our numbers." He tucked his arm into Lee's elbow and began to walk away. "It was nice to finally meet you," he threw out over his shoulder.

She watched as they walked out of earshot and turned to fix Sasuke with a wary look. "You talk to strangers about me?"

He took in the look on her face as she got into the passenger seat. "They're not strangers, I know them." She pursed her lips. "And I've never said anything bad about you."

"You sure?" She hedged without taking her eyes off a nearby car.

"Do you even need to ask?" He shook his head as he maneuvered out of the parking lot.

She looked at him for a moment. "...No, you're right. I'm sorry."

* * *

"I think the blankets are in the red duffel," Sasuke motioned after glancing at her drooping eyes. She took another minute to continue using her work camera to photograph the silver-blue sky outside her window before placing it in the glove compartment. She yawned and climbed over the seat, searching quietly for a few moments before making a soft gasp.

She placed her face on his shoulder and grinned. "You never struck me as the fuzzy sock type," she held up a tie-dyed atrocity. "Especially not Rainbow Monkey ones." He jerked his shoulder to shrug her off and Hinata tried to dial down her laughter.

Sasuke just rolled his eyes. "They're Itachi's idea of a joke. I was a big KND fan growing up."

"You know what I have to do now, right?"

He watched her settle back into the passenger seat out of the corner of his eye. When she looked at him, he turned to face her and raised a brow. A grin split her face and then she took a deep breath.

"Rainbow monkeys! Rainbow monkeys! Oh, so very round and super chunky!" He shook his head as she continued, "Bringing love wherever they go; every one is made of a big rainbow!" Hinata trailed off and wagged her eyebrows at him.

He made a face and glanced at the clock on the dash, "Oh, would you look at that: nine-fifteen, time for all Hinatas to go to bed."

"See, this is why you're not an operative," she replied solemnly, slipping the socks onto her feet.

Sasuke side eyed her. "You're well over thirteen. And last I checked, how many kids do you know that knit, grandma?"

She placed a blanket covered hand on her chest, a look of incredulity on her face. "I'll have you know that knitting is a respectable, age-old hobby."

"Old is right," he muttered. The car jerked to the side as he was assaulted. He held her back with an arm braced across her chest. "Are you senile? You might not have many years left, but it's nowhere near my time."

"Oh please, you drama queen, road's empty anyways. We're in the middle of nowhere... actually," she yawned, "where are we?" Hinata eyed the flat lands on either side of the car. There wasn't a single sign of a city, let alone life, that she could see. She looked up at the wispy clouds covering the sky and then back to Sasuke, who just kept his eyes trained on the road, amusement on his face.

"On our way to somewhere soft," he said after a minute passed with him under her scrutiny. "You'll see eventually. Just go to sleep and I'll wake you when we get there."

"But —"

"No 'buts.' It's a surprise." A pout formed on her face. "Trust me," he placed a hand on her knee for a brief moment, to give it a soft squeeze.

Hinata started, caught off guard, and simply stared at him, a question in her eyes. Before she could catch herself, a smirk pulled at Sasuke's lips. She promptly turned to cool her heating cheek against the window and snuggled into her seat. She closed her eyes tightly as his knowing laugh followed her into her sleep.

* * *

Sasuke breathed a sigh of relief upon sighting a sign proclaiming "Welcome to the Beehive State." He swatted coffee cups off the center console to unearth his cell and dial his brother.

He picked up on the third ring, "I take it you've made it, dear little brother?"

Sasuke waited for Itachi to finish yawning before responding. He looked over at Hinata as she stirred and settled, "Not quite. I kind of forgot the name of the place you told me."

An amused sigh sounded from the other end of the phone and Sasuke sniffed in indignation. "How about I text it to you? And you owe me one of these pictures of her for waking me at—" a pause "—five-seventeen in the morning; you know, when working people are normally asleep?"

"Tch," and a muttered "sorry" was Sasuke's only reply.

"Don't forget to call Shikamaru when you're close. Oh, and Sasuke?" He waited for a response.

"Yeah?" He rolled his eyes; he could practically _hear_ Itachi's sly grin slip across his face.

"Remind me to ask for your advice if I ever need to plan a romantic —" Sasuke hung up.

* * *

Hinata's eyes fluttered open as her mind registered a strange, bleating sound. She was sitting in the car as it lay parked near a mass of trees. Movement drew her attention to her right where she saw Sasuke speaking with a messy-haired man in front of an enormous cabin.

She hurried out of the car, "Shikamaru!"

"Good to see you too, Sunshine," he coughed as she slammed into him. "I forgot how loud you can be sometimes." She pulled back and gently swatted him.

"We haven't seen each other since grad school," Hinata fussed. "I always thought our reunion would be happier."

"He's plenty happy," Sasuke rolled his eyes.

Shikamaru just gave her a reassuring pat on the head, "What he said. Anyways, how are you, Sunshine? Still chasing that piece of the sky?" He laughed a little at that last part.

"Why, of course! Why would I ever stop when it's always there waiting for me?

"How are you so energized this early in the morning?" He stifled a yawn. "Oh yeah," he threw something at Sasuke. "Those are the spare keys to the cabin. Your rooms are in the back on the second floor."

"We're staying here?" Hinata asked, enthusiasm in her voice. "Is Temari already asleep?"

"Of course," Shikamaru answered, "she has to be up early to catch a flight. Anyways —" he cut his eyes towards Sasuke "— don't you two have somewhere to be?"

Sasuke coughed and turned his burning face away from the light. "C'mon, Hinata," he said facing the trees. "I wanna show you something."

Shikamaru gave her arm a squeeze and headed into the cabin without another word. She watched Sasuke walk into the tree-line, a large, purple book under his arm. She wondered where it came from for a moment and then followed after him.

He was being quiet. For Sasuke anyway. He kept glancing back at her as if she'd change her mind and walk away without his noticing. She looked up towards the sky but the view was obscured by the treetops. She managed to see the first rays of the sun coloring the sky, still not outshining the stars completely, through the leaves.

"Here we are," Sasuke stopped short and looked back at her. He answered the question on her face, "The Blue Water Subway." She walked past him, cool air hitting her face, and felt her heart jump.

Before her was a wonder of nature: turquoise water tinged with hints of silver reflected the dwindling stars in the sky like a perfect mirror. There were glass-smooth rock walls opening around them, almost glowing reflecting both the water and the sky. She walked up to the edge of one of the pools and looked down. It was like staring into infinity. The sky was almost there, just beyond her toes, staring up at her.

She turned excitedly towards Sasuke and stopped short. He was holding that purple photo album out to her. She stared at it for a while and he began to fidget. She took it with both hands and opened it up. She gasped. It was full of candids. Of her. Sasuke rubbed his palms against his pants.

"I wanted to know if you'd let me...photograph you more often," he looked straight ahead into the horizon. She flipped through the photo book. There was page after page of her against glowing backgrounds, with lights in her eyes, half-smiles on her face; she looked almost ethereal. "I've always wanted to have a photo series of a beautiful woman." He swallowed past a lump in his throat. Once. Twice. "I'd title it ' _Mine_.'"

She blinked up at him a few times, taking a moment to process what he said. He watched as her brows furrowed in thought, and then as her eyes widened in her reddening face. "You wa...me? I— Oh." She tore her eyes away.

For nearly a minute the only sounds to be heard were those of birds rising with the sun and Hinata's quick breaths.

"Well?" Sasuke prompted. He turned his gaze back towards the sunrise, holding a hand out.

Hinata looked back and forth between Sasuke's open hand and the photo album she now held clutched to her chest with one arm. She didn't know what to say to him. It seemed that he put a lot of thought into it, just for her. But why?

"Why not?" He responded. She must have asked out loud.

Why not was what he said. So, he thought she was beautiful? Thought she was someone he wanted to be with? Maybe she was like a little…the sky to him? She chuckled at that. The idea warmed her a bit.

She took a second to take a breath and settle her thoughts. She found herself smiling and so she placed her free hand in his. She couldn't help but giggle as he released a shaky breath.

"Thanks for all of this, Sasuke."

He grunted and squeezed her hand. She didn't comment on his sweaty palm.


End file.
